The New Rule
by hazelmom
Summary: Gibbs' biggest fear. A tag to last night's Check.


7

A/N: A strange little thing was swirling around in my head after Check 12 x 11 last night. Crazy episode. Feeling lots of different things. Felt so bad for Gibbs. Here's my tag. Let me know what you think. Sheila. Dedicated to an old friend I haven't heard from in a while. Here's to you, Marysia.

**The New Rule**

DiNozzo rested his back against the wall in the restroom, trying to adopt as a casual a posture as possible. It was the only thing he could do to counter the agitation coming off of Gibbs. The boss wasn't given to displays of emotion outside of brief outbursts of anger or impatience. Yet, here he was pacing in front of the sinks, his face as red as Tony had ever seen it.

Agent Waters pushed open the door, but Tony warned him away with a sharp shake of his head. Gibbs looked at the door drifting back into place. "Where is he?!"

"You wanted someone who knows Emily to pick her up. He told me he was only going to be a few minutes."

Gibbs stopped and squeezed his eyes shut. "That was a bad idea. What was I thinking? He's looking for certain conditions. Those conditions would be met with Tim and Emily in the same car. What was I thinking?"

"He's fine, Boss."

Gibbs slapped at a ceramic sink with his hand. "He's not fine! Nobody's fine, Tony!"

Tony swallowed a breath. "How close is Fornell?"

Gibbs blinked. "Minutes, I think. He knows something, but the truth can't happen on a phone. The truth happened on the phone for me…" He stopped and took a breath. "It has to be in person. That's why I have to have this conversation with you and McGee together. I want to only do this once."

"Okay," Tony said softly. He knew Gibbs better than all any other living soul at this point. He knew better than to offer coffee or urge him to sit. He knew that logic or platitudes had no place in the conversation. The best he could do was to be a witness to whatever Gibbs had to say.

Gibbs licked dry lips. "I have to think faster than he does. He has my personal file. Abby said so. Everything is in there. What Cranston writes is in there. Did you know that? Psychological evaluations are in our files."

"I never much thought about it."

"Lucky you," he said looking into Tony's eyes briefly. Those sharp, blue eyes looked old and haunted. In fact, everything about Gibbs had aged in the last two hours.

Tony felt his phone buzz and he looked it. "Good news. McGee and Emily just walked into the building. Let me just text our location."

Gibbs sagged against the sink for a moment. "Get him up here. Once Tobias gets here, things are going to get complicated. There won't be time for these kinds of conversations."

Tony texted furiously.

Gibbs stared into the mirror and cursed. He ran the faucet and splashed his face. He turned for a towel and was confronted with only the hand dryer. He cursed again and slipped into a stall for toilet paper. Then he bellowed, "Where the hell is he?!"

Tony looked at the ceiling and clicked on his phone. Before the call could complete, the door opened and McGee walked in. "What are we doing in here?"

Gibbs bounded out of the stall. "What the hell took you so long!"

"She was at rugby practice. The coach had a problem with a non-relative taking her anywhere."

Gibbs scrubbed the remaining moisture off his face. "You shouldn't have gone."

"You told me to go. You said it should be someone she knows."

He pointed. "Don't argue with me!"

"I'm not, Boss."

Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment, and McGee looked at Tony for direction. Tony shook his head sharply.

"How is she? Does she know?"

"No, you said not to tell her. I told her that it was a security issue. She's with Bishop."

He nodded. "She needs to hear it from her dad. Bishop needs to take her to the break room or something. I need to talk to Tobias first."

Tony nodded curtly and texted Bishop.

"What are we doing in here, Boss?"

"I need to talk to you and Tony before things get…crazy."

He nodded and gestured to the door. "Let's get a conference room."

"What's your problem, McGee? You got a problem with the restroom!" Gibbs' eyes burned into him.

"No, Boss, I don't."

"Then shut up and listen!"

McGee nodded. Tony gave him a look and McGee settled against the wall next to him.

Gibbs nodded. "A hard day is about to get much harder. In the midst of it, we can't lose sight of Sergei Mishnev. We have to be vigilant."

"We know that," McGee said.

"Shut up, Tim. The Boss is talking," Tony hissed at him.

"Seven people are dead and one was family! Are the both of you ready to listen to me now!"

Neither man moved as Gibbs spoke. They stood as straight and tall as raw recruits, and it sparked a wetness in Gibbs' eyes such that he looked away and blinked. "I'm sorry, but I only have time to say this once. I need you to hear it completely."

"You never say—"

Tony slapped him in the gut before he could finish. "We're listening, Boss."

Gibbs nodded. "New rule. I don't want you to ride in a car together again. Not until we have Mishnev."

McGee frowned but Tony's fingers digging into his arm kept him from speaking.

"No two people in a car. The two of you in particular."

Tony nodded. "Applies to Bishop?"

Gibbs sighed. "I don't know. I never talked about her to Cranston. I don't know."

"Mishnev hasn't had time to watch us long."

Gibbs rubbed his forehead. "We don't know that. No two people in a car."

McGee looked from Tony to Gibbs. "I don't—this makes no sense. We should be traveling in twos at all times."

Gibbs ignored him. "This includes Abby. She is not to be in a car with either of you. Understood?!"

"Yeah," Tony said softly.

Tim threw up his hands. "No! That's crazy! She could be at risk! We need one of us with her at all times!"

Gibbs' phone rang and he stared down at it. "He's here."

Then he looked up with soft eyes. "I don't have time to fight with you, Tim. Everything is about to get very real. But I'll find a conference room for me and Tobias. That make you happy?"

Tony stepped forward for the first time and put a hand on Gibbs' arm. "I know what you're talking about. I understand it exactly the way you mean it. Let me handle it. I'll make sure everyone understands. I promise."

Gibbs nodded, looking down. "I don't know what I'm going to say to him."

McGee's eyes watered suddenly. "I'm sorry I wasn't listening, Boss. I'm so sorry about Diane. I'm sorry it took so long to get Emily here. I'm really sorry."

Gibbs put a hand on his shoulder, and for a moment, all three men were touching. "It's okay, Tim. Just do what I say."

McGee nodded, wiping at his eyes.

Gibbs took a deep breath and left the bathroom. McGee rubbed at his eyes furiously. "I was the one that let her barrel her way into this case. I should've shut her down. What was I was thinking?"

"It's okay," Tony whispered, rubbing his shoulder. "Diane is- was a force of nature. There was no shutting her down. Nothing you could've done."

He nodded and then looked up. "What the hell is this thing about not riding together?!"

"What's Mishnev doing?"

"Killing people."

"Come on, Tim. What's he doing?"

McGee took a breath. "He's getting into Gibbs' head. Recreating traumatic scenes."

Tony nodded. "Staging the scene is everything."

"He started with Shepard's showdown. Then he staged Mike's last stand."

"Then Kate," Tony said softly.

Tim closed his eyes. "He's starting at the edge of Gibbs' traumas and going inward. Each act is more personal than the last."

"Exactly!"

"What's next? The bombing here at NCIS?" McGee hesitated. "Surely, that doesn't trump losing Kate. Maybe, Mishnev doesn't understand that part of Gibbs' psyche."

"Oh, he does. Cranston's reports are in his personnel file."

"What's worse than…" Tim looked at Tony, eyes wide. "Shannon and Kelly."

"Pedro Reynosa shot into their car, causing it to crash, killing both of them."

"So, we can't be in a car together…"

"Because that would stage the scene for Mishnev's Coup de grace."

"Technically, there was an NIS agent in the car."

Tony shook his head. "Mishnev's staging hasn't been precise; it's been purposeful. It's about impact."

"Why the two of us or Abby? He could target any two people."

"Boss kept mentioning Cranston. It's in the psych evals. Shannon and Kelly were family. Mishnev can't stage the scene without killing family. He wants to recreate Gibbs' most personal trauma. And right now, that's the killing of Gibbs' family. That's why you and I can't be in a car together. It creates the perfect storm for Mishnev."

McGee stared at him. "You sure about all this?"

"The most important thing Gibbs had to do before meeting with Fornell was to warn his family. That's you and me and Abby."

"Ducky?"

"Yeah, but Ducky is like a brother. We're the sons and Abby's the daughter. My guess is that it's all in his psyche evaluation with Cranston. That's Mishnev's move."

McGee set his chin. "I'm not afraid of that man. Not changing my routine. Let him come. Let's bait him."

"Yeah, because you want Gibbs' head to explode?"

"Then what do we do?"

"We're family, Tim. We stay sensitive to that for Gibbs."

"He's carrying a big load right now."

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "Then I guess it's up to his sons to step up and help him out."

"We don't ride together then," Tim said.

"Not until Mishnev is a corpse."

Tim nodded. "That's go see what we can do to make that happen."

Tony patted him on the back. "Alright little brother. Let's do it."

….

The End


End file.
